Ryan P. C. Trimble

Ryan P. C. Trimble is a freelance writer for the Chicago Tribune.

Sam Burger and Charlotte Weeks act out a scene during an improv comedy class at the CIC Theater below The Western Bar & Kitchen on June 10, 2026, in Chicago. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune)

CIC Theater builds its way towards a new home for improv, ‘one disaster at a time’

June 17, 2026 at 5:45 a.m.

The longtime Chicago comedy theater's director, Farrell Walsh, and a partner have opened Western Bar & Kitchen and hope to debut CIC performances there soon.

Comedian Maggie Winters, center, mingles with friends while she and her family host their annual party after the South Side Irish St. Patrick’s Day Parade on March 15, 2026, in Chicago’s Beverly neighborhood. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)

Maggie Winters invited us to her St. Patrick’s Day party in Beverly, where her comedy was born

March 20, 2026 at 5:45 a.m.

"Marguerite" is now available for streaming. The Tribune caught up with her at her family's annual party for the South Side Irish Parade.

Iliza Shlesinger at the CMT Music Awards at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee, on June 9, 2021. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

Comedy for fall 2025: Stand-up by Iliza Shlesinger, Ron Funches and Janeane Garofalo

September 4, 2025 at 4:29 p.m.

From shows at the Chicago Theatre to Lincoln Lodge to Zanies, your comedy calendar is full.

Audience members Lily Gaddis, left, and Molly Olson have a laugh while taking in a performance by The One Offs at The Revival improv theater in Chicago’s South Loop on July 12, 2025. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune)

5 new comedy clubs to know in the Chicago area

July 17, 2025 at 5:45 a.m.

Get your maps out, order your two-drink minimum and chart a course with us across these new homes for improv and stand-up comedy.

Show creator Julie Golden and guest comic Kathy Griffin in a performance of “The Big D” at Westside Comedy in Santa Monica, California. (Zack Arch)

‘The Big D,’ a matchmaking comedy show for divorced singles, is coming to Chicago

June 30, 2025 at 5:30 a.m.

A unique comedy game show is coming to Chicago, and while anyone can watch, the show’s contestants share one commonality: divorce.

Sotheby's is auctioning an iconic piece of movie memorabilia — Matthew Broderick's signature sweater vest from "Ferris Bueller's Day Off," shown here in a scene from the movie. (Sotheby's)

Ferris Bueller’s iconic vest goes up for auction 40 years after famously skipping school

June 6, 2025 at 12:26 p.m.

Forty years after cameras first rolled, an iconic piece of the film’s wardrobe is jumping off the screen and into one lucky fan’s closet.

Trevor Wallace, Damon Wayans Jr. and Melissa Villaseñor have stand-up shows slated for Chicago this summer. (Getty photos by Chelsea Guglielmino / Frazer Harrison / Emma McIntyre)

Comedy for summer 2025: Stand-up comics, including some from ‘SNL’

June 2, 2025 at 5:00 a.m.

Also on Chicago-area stages these next few months, Trevor Wallace, James Austin Johnson and the Zanies show Roast Battle Chicago.

Derek Bish and comedian Cam Gillette talk during the "Welcome to the Show" variety show at The Getaway in Chicago, April 7, 2025. (Addison Annis/for the Chicago Tribune)

‘Welcome to the Show’ wants to feel like hanging out with friends in their Lincoln Square basement

April 18, 2025 at 5:45 a.m.

Derek Bish's free live talk show has been filling the backroom of The Getaway since its first episode in the summer of 2024.

Comedian Mike Atcherson poses at the Lincoln Lodge on Feb. 13, 2025. Atcherson is among a wave of stand-up comics on stage right now with teaching as their day jobs. (E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune)

From classroom to stand-up comedy, teachers take to the stage

February 19, 2025 at 5:15 a.m.

Which is harder, a crowd of students or the crowd at a comedy club? Check out the upcoming "Teacher’s Lounge" at Chicago Improv.

Andrei Scoparo rides for the Carolina Cowboys in the team competition during the Professional Bull Riders (PBR) Unleash the Beast event at Allstate Arena, Jan. 10, 2025, in Rosemont. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune)

Professional bull riders will ‘Unleash the Beast’ this weekend in Rosemont

January 11, 2025 at 9:27 a.m.

PBR’s Unleash the Beast stampedes into the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Jan. 10-11, starting at 7:45 p.m. Friday.

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